


Within Her Teary Heart

by SnowLyxi



Category: Dead or Alive (Video Games)
Genre: Anxiety, Character Study, Comfort, Criticism, Crying, F/M, Feelings, Fluff and Angst, Forests, Friendship, One Shot, Self-Esteem, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-10 03:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21460180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowLyxi/pseuds/SnowLyxi
Summary: If only she had met Miss Helena's expectations, then she wouldn't feel so awful about herself. However, Eliot is there to cheer her up and it makes her glow with warmth.
Relationships: Eliot/Marie Rose (Dead or Alive)
Kudos: 2





	Within Her Teary Heart

**Author's Note:**

> ahaha so i made this in like february but i never got to posting it because i kept procrastinating so oops. i've liked this ship ever since doa5lr came out and they had a tag team entrance and ending and i would always gush at the two and make them wear matching costumes. i don't really know if anyone else ships them, but it's a rare pair and i accept that as a fact lol.

Marie Rose stepped onto the main entrance of Miss Helena’s villa. It had been a couple of weeks since the last Dead or Alive Tournament and Miss Helena said she needed to take some time off from work. And so the two took up their belongings and made their way to her summer villa in Europe. 

Marie Rose undoubtedly agreed that being away from the city indeed felt relaxing. She had more time to sip tea, read books, and watch movies. It was almost perfect. Of course, she still had her chores, but it made her happy if she was being of any use to Miss Helena. 

Ever since inheriting her father’s fortune, Miss Helena also took in all the houses and possessions he owned. She also had the company to watch over, which many of the employees didn’t agree with. Her plan was to start anew and have the company work on more positive creations. However, since the company had been working on biotec weapons that could cause massive destruction all within a push of a button, it had been hard for them to accept working in a new environment. Some of the workers have even opted to quit and work for MIST, which Miss Helena didn’t approve of. 

Especially after the discovery of her dead mother, Miss Helena’s stress level had been on an all time high. Marie Rose could still see how tense she was even though they had come all the way here to unwind. 

Marie Rose bit her lip. More than ever, Miss Helena had been requesting Marie Rose to complete more tasks for her. Whether it be making future plans with Zack or going to the distant city to buy groceries. More often than not, Marie Rose would have a couple of duties to complete during the day before having her own free time. She wondered if it had anything to do with the infiltration of MIST. Whatever the case, the activities usually exhausted her, but she was always proud to help Miss Helena. 

Today was no different. She had just finished retrieving the mail before she was ordered to return at once back to the estate. This wasn’t out of the ordinary so it didn’t seem out of the blue. Perhaps Miss Helena had another task to do before she could be given her free time. Marie Rose called for a cab and made her way back.

As she arrived at her destination, she stepped out and made her way to the entrance. As she walked, she counted the objectives she had left. As fate would have it, she was completely done with the chores Miss Helena had asked of her previously. Giving herself a small cheer, she continued on her way until she reached Miss Helena’s office. 

Walking through the winding hallways and past the sunlit windows, the villa was aesthetically pleasant. The smooth cream-colored walls filled with flowers, candles, and paintings gave off calming vibes. Marie Rose could see why Miss Helena had chosen this place than the other summer houses. 

She came upon a familiar white door with golden frames that looked remarkably grandiose in comparison to the other doors in the hallways. Marie Rose gave herself a small moment to briefly check over clothes and make sure she looked presentable. She had to look sophisticated and professional when meeting with Miss Helena. Looking the part was just as important as her decorum.

Looking straight ahead at the office door, she knocked on it a couple of times before waiting for Miss Helena’s response. 

A muffled, “Come in,” was heard. Marie Rose turned the doorknob and walked in. 

The sunlight that flooded her vision as she entered the room caused Marie Rose to flinch. Allowing her eyes to adjust to the change in brightness, She made her way to where Miss Helena was standing. Her white desk gleaned from the light coming through her prodigious window. 

Miss Helena was standing at her usual spot, staring out into the distance from the window behind her desk. 

Not wanting to interrupt the peace, Marie Rose said in a passive voice, “Miss Helena, I have returned as you have requested. Is there something you need?”

She was met with silence. Miss Helena didn’t even budge or show any reaction that she heard what Marie Rose had said. Marie Rose began to worry. Miss Helena had never acted this way before. Usually she would have turned around by now and told Marie Rose that she had done a good job. She wasn’t the type of person to wait around. Dread began coursing through her mind. There had to be something wrong. 

The sudden movement of Miss Helena brought her attention back. She turned to face Marie Rose. It was at this moment that Marie Rose could definitely tell something was wrong. Miss Helena didn’t have her cheerful face as she usually did. Her darkened expression contrasted harshly against the sunlight that shone against her face. Her eyes seemed to shoot daggers at Marie Rose. 

Marie Rose felt her heart stop. She didn’t know what she had done wrong, but whatever it was, it looked to be a fatal mistake.

“U-ummm… Miss Helena?” she asked sheepishly, “Have I done something wrong for you to have called me here?”

Miss Helena continued to glare at Marie Rose. 

“It is as you have said.” She didn’t say anything after that which left everything up to questioning. Her gaze could only be described as disgust. “Remember that client I told you to keep an eye on in case he did anything out of place?”

A client…? She tried to jostle her memory for the mission that fit that vague description. Was she perhaps talking about the man who was secretly caught hacking into the servers of the corporation? Marie Rose was informed that she had to observe the man’s movement to see if he would exchange information with anyone working in MIST. That was the only time she had to note someone else’s movements other than Honoka. 

“Yes, I do remember,” she replied.

“He’s escaped.”

“What? But I thought he had been taken to prison for trespassing our privacy. I made sure he didn’t do anything until it was reported and confirmed.”

Miss Helena looked more annoyed as Marie Rose kept trying to explain herself. Her eyebrows were knitted together tightly and her gaze grew even more vicious. 

“You didn’t consider the clean up. A report came in saying his documents and files had been swiped from his desk. A large amount of my company’s data has been given to some unknown stranger who could do anything with it.”

Marie Rose froze. Her breathing stopped, and not a muscle in her body was moving. The shock of the blame being placed onto her, how her misconduct had led to such an oversight; there was no coming back from this. It felt like a dumbbell had been dropped on her heart, crushing her until she couldn’t breathe. Her eyes were going out of focus, the situation strangling her. She wasn’t thinking, there was too much pressure on her body. It was constricting her body. Her emotions were ricocheting, but nothing was happening. It was like she had been dropped into a deep ocean where the water was compressing her, making her dissipate into nothing.

Miss Helena continued, her voice turning downright vitriolic, “I see that you are not worthy of doing such high class operations. I thought I could trust you and see to it that this would be a success, but it seems you are not prepared to take on such tasks. It saddens me to see a degenerate like you taking the role as my servant. But, no matter! I can always find some other things for you to do.”

She couldn’t handle it any longer. The insults dug into her head and it reached her soft heart. She didn’t want to hear them any longer. She turned around and ran out the door, the sound of her boots echoing the room as she threw open the door and sprinted off. Her body shook with each step and the hallways were a blur behind her tears as she navigated to the entrance. 

She grabbed the doorknob tightly and threw the door open. It didn’t help that each step felt like she was chained to a ball of steel on her ankles. She kept running out of the estate where she wouldn’t be found. She didn’t want to face Miss Helena every again. She had disappointed her and herself. There was no way to redeem her lost reputation. She blindly took off towards someplace, any place that wasn’t close to people or civilization. She didn’t want to talk or look at anybody.

The grass gave way under her as the sun burnt her skin. Her tiredness and wear of her legs came sooner than she expected as she began to slow to a walk. Besides the sounds of her sniffle and the deep breaths trying to calm herself, she saw herself surrounded by thick trees. The lofty trees provided expansive shade and it cooled her down The leaves on the ground dipped with each step of her thick heels as the scenery continued. The floor was littered with tiny rays of sunshine peeking through the shady tree leaves. It wasn’t much at the moment, but her outburst of emotions cooled off. She looked back and searched for the estate, but she saw it was gone. She couldn’t believe it, but her speed was faster than she previously estimated.

The trees were massive and covered the sky with leaves. Marie Rose walked through them and tilted her head up to peer through them. She needed something, anything to get her mind away from what happened, but it was fruitless as her mind instantly went to replaying that happenstance over and over. 

How could she ever look Miss Helena in the eyes ever again? She didn’t need a maid who couldn’t take care of things properly. There was no room for Marie Rose and her silly mistakes. It hurt her to think that about herself but it might as well be true after what transpired earlier.

She stopped in her tracks and took a deep breath. She needed to calm herself and breathe. Her tears were long gone, but it wouldn’t take much for her to start again. She decided to just keep walking and explore the new terrain while trying to forget about Miss Helena and returning back to her.

If she’d even want me back…

The same scenery seemed to go on forever as she kept walking. Green leaves made up the entire ground. The place was undisturbed for a long time and she was probably the first visitor in a long time. She felt overshadowed by the vast amount of trees. Usually she’d rather be out with other people instead of this deserted area, but today was different. Right now all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and sleep. 

At this point of time, all the strength in her legs had been used up and she leaned against a close by tree to recover her energy. With a soft, tired sigh, she managed to let herself sit down onto the ground without dropping her entire body. She used her hands to place her back onto the tree and tried to find a spot where she wasn’t being pricked with sharp edges in the bark. 

Her body was still shivering despite the warm weather. Her unsettled emotions began to rise up again. She crossed her arms across her chest. She didn’t like how the sadness was creeping back inside of her. 

Tears began welling up in her eyes again and slowly riding down her cheek. She made no move to wipe it away. She stayed there, body shrunken in despondence, her arms and legs unable to muster an ounce of energy at the moment. 

All of a sudden, hushed footsteps crept its way into her ears. They were soft and distant, no concern for her at the moment. However, the steps would remain a constant sound, as if the person was surveying the land in a repetitive motion far away from her. It didn’t matter to her, the only thing she wanted now was for the person to go away so she could sulk by herself. However, perhaps fate wouldn’t listen to her pleas today, now that those dreaded steps were drawing much closer than she would’ve preferred.  
At this point, Marie Rose unfurled herself out of her current position and laid against the tree bark. Her tears were still present on her face, glistening in the sun against her pale skin. She stared blankly, unmoving, as she waited for the stranger to make their way here and take a quick glance at her before walking away from the pathetic mess they saw. 

Utterly defeated, she let out a sigh. After all that happened today, she definitely didn’t want to talk or even look at someone at the moment. But alas, if it ever came to any sort of human confrontation, she would just have to grit her teeth and bear it. 

The steps stopped right behind her. Blond hair and blue eyes suddenly made an appearance within her field of view. As she focused her eyes, it all became clear to her who the stranger was. 

“Eliot?” her small voice whispered, incredulous.

“Um. How do you know my name—wait, have I seen you before?” questioned Eliot, startled.

Marie Rose turned her body to look at him clearly. Along with his curious face, he was in his usual training attire with his zebra striped tunic. It was obvious he was going somewhere to practice. However, what Marie Rose didn’t take into consideration was for him to be able to see her clearly, particularly her tears. A wave of regret ran through her drained mind. Eliot wasn’t supposed to see that—he wasn’t supposed to see her at all. 

“Woah, are you okay?” he asked.

Panicking at his unnerving proximity, she quickly used her black dress sleeves to scrub away the remains of her tears, all while flushing in humiliation. And to think that just a second ago she didn’t care who saw her. But this was Eliot. Someone she actually knew. He really couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Seeing her frantically wipe away her tears, Eliot made his way around the tree and sat in front of Marie Rose, invitation be damned; this was out of his own volition. Looking past the ruffles on her sleeves, he appeared confused and was focusing on her face. It made her blush even more. If she looked into a mirror, she probably would’ve looked like she had a fever with her reddened face.

Marie Rose collected herself as best she could before Eliot continued on, “Sorry if I’m wrong, but weren’t you that girl that was with Honoka?”

That’s why he looked so pensive. He was trying to figure out where he had seen her from before. Not wanting to talk at the moment, she gave a curt nod. 

“So that’s why you know my name. She gave me a scare when I was reading my scroll,” Eliot responded with a sheepish grin.

Marie Rose returned the smile with one of her own, she saw how hard he was trying to cheer her up even though this was their first time actually talking to each other. It wasn’t even his fault that this all happened, he didn’t even know what was going on and yet, here he was talking to her. She guessed this was how he was with everyone. She would’ve told him to go away, but his company made her forget about her current troubles. 

The silence that ensued afterwards embraced the two as the leaves shuffled against the light winds. It was just the two of them sitting in front of each other, not speaking, the lush grass and fallen leaves being smoothed out underneath them. The balmy heat of high noon didn’t reach their bodies as the speckled light flickered on the ground. When she had unknowingly ran into the forest, her mind was too preoccupied with the hopelessness of her situation to truly experience the wonders of such beautiful woodlands. Closing her eyes and letting herself relax against the tree trunk, she took a deep breath in and smelled the damp earth.

Finally deciding to resolve that permeating, endless silence around them, she glanced up at him only to met with his eyes gazing curiously back at her. A slice of embarrassment filled her almost instantly at the thought he may have been staring at her when she wasn’t looking. Blush spread into her cheeks once more and she tried to quell the rampage in her mind.

“By the way, why are you in this forest?” Eliot asked. 

Marie Rose’s eyes widened. The main reason why she wanted to try and ask the question first was so she wouldn’t have to answer with her disgrace of a story. How would he look at her now if he knew what a failure she was and how she couldn’t live up to Miss Helena’s expectations? She already knew that Eliot succeeded under Gen-Fu before becoming Brad Wong’s disciple. Recalling her memories of Eliot’s success stories in the DOA tournament, would he really understand her situation? Would he empathize with her? Or would he look at her in shame and pity? 

Eliot must’ve seen the distraught look on her face because he continued his previous question by saying, “Look, I’m not pressuring you to answer. It’s okay if you don’t wanna talk.” He shot her a reassuring smile.

Almost instantly, guilt filled her body; she hadn’t intended the conversation to go like this. “No, no, it’s fine. I was just thinking.”

Readjusting his posture, Eliot looked at her, anticipating her answer.

Gripping her dress in anticipation and nervousness, she thought about telling him the truth or not. But the more she questioned whether to do it or not, her self consciousness begged her to choose the latter. She considered her options. If she did tell him, he would only be an unneeded bystander in something he wasn’t a part of. It wasn’t Eliot’s fault that she was in this mess. She was the one to blame. It would place him in an uncomfortable situation. He was kind and he didn’t deserve this. If she chose not to tell him, he would forget about this ever happening and go about his day. Overall, she came to the conclusion of not saying anything regarding the matter. She would feel bad for not telling him the truth, but this was for the best. There would be no need for him to know. It would bring her influence down and she didn’t want to be looked down upon (she was used to that well enough because of her height).

Marie Rose responded, “I just came here to enjoy the woods.” She looked up at him and returned him a polite smile.

Eliot stared at her suspiciously, but Marie Rose continued on with her facade, but after some time, Eliot decided to let it go. 

“I see,” he faltered, “Well, as for me, I was looking around for a place to train and practice some of my moves.”

Marie Rose figured as much. He was in his usual Chinese-styled attire. Guilt trickled into her; she was probably wasting a lot of his time that he could spend doing something more productive. She had the urge to bring it up, but she didn’t know how to say it without being insensitive.

“Hey Eliot, not to be rude or anything, but aren’t I taking up your time? I’d feel bad if I was in the way of your training,” she asked him.

Eliot gave a little chuckle. “No, it’s alright. Besides, I like getting to know new people.”

Marie Rose nodded, “Where’s Brad? How come he’s not with you?”

“He’s off...getting drunk again,” he replied with a rub on the back of his neck, “So I left him to it, but I wanted to at least do a little bit of practice before I go to see him again. I want to show him some of my new moves.”

“Ah, he seems to have faith in you to do well...” Marie Rose trailed off. Her cadence wavered precariously with a subtle pain she hoped would go under Eliot’s radar.

In all honesty, she was happy for him. However, she couldn’t help but feel a little envious on Eliot’s earnest nature and capability as a wonderful student. If only she could do something like that with Miss Helena. Her eyes locked on his face. He was perfect in a scholarly way. He did as he was told, always stayed on track of everything, and strived to be the best. Marie Rose wanted to be exactly like him. And despite all the effort she poured into trying to achieve that elusive sort of perfection, after today, all her progress seemed to vanish altogether. She probably wasn’t even good enough to stand next to Miss Helena anymore. 

But maybe she was overthinking everything, the little sensible voice in her head told her; maybe this wasn’t such a big deal. Then she thought back to Miss Helena yelling at her, telling her that she couldn’t be trusted, how she was completely useless in every sense of the word because she failed that mission. When she thought about those moments, the whole world fell on top of her. She didn’t know what to do, she had never received such harsh criticisms (more like insults) before in her life.She felt as if her value as a being was less than that of the dirt she stood on.

All the while, her eyes teared up as she kept replaying the incident in her head. She desperately batted her eyes to combat the tears, but they continued to stream down her face gradually. The dirt beneath her became wet with water as they fell steadily onto the group and she used her sleeves to wipe the ongoing current spouting from her eyes. To her avail, the tears kept coming down no matter what she did to stop them. Her sniffling was audible in the clearing they were in. She realized she must be looking like a wretched little brat who couldn’t control her emotions. She wanted to hide herself away from Eliot. She wished he would leave. She didn’t want him to see her like this. She should’ve told him to leave her alone when she got the chance. She should’ve never talked to him. She should've—

A hand was gently placed onto her head.

Marie Rose looked up and tried to discern what was happening when the hand started to stroke her head softly. It was Eliot. 

Kneeling next to her, he kept his cheerful smile and, with a voice of an angel, said, “It’ll be alright.” 

That only continued the onslaught of tears that poured down her face. Her body shook with each breath and she kept trying to stop the stream only for it to increase in intensity. Her hands could only dry her eyes as fast she could move them. As soon as her hands slid down her cheeks to wipe away the tears, a fresh torrent would pour out of her eyes. Her congested throat made breathing harder and let out small whimpering noises that only seemed to heighten her mortification.

In the midst of all this, Eliot sat down cross legged next to her and waited patiently as his hand went from her head to comfort her by rubbing her back up and down. Despite hating the present situation, Marie Rose felt better that she was in the presence of someone so caring. She felt...loved? She might’ve made fun of herself if she wasn’t weeping so hard. However, the solace she felt from Eliot overwhelmed her to the point where it almost drowned out her tears. 

Eventually after a couple of minutes of taking deep breaths, her tears surrendered to mere rivulets instead of a burgeoning cascade. Her heart rate was beating so fast and her body was still trembling from the assault of emotions, but she had managed to cool down for the time being where her cries weren’t the only thing she could hear. The skin around her eyes were a reddish-pink as with her nose. Any energy she regained while resting had been lost during the crying session and it hit her hard. Exhaustion filled her. She was so so tired, but…

Horrid dread built up in her as she registered that Eliot was still right next to her, his hands next to him. She hadn’t even realized that he stopped consoling. But what made her feel even worse was that he had witnessed her throughout the entire ordeal. 

“Hey,” her voice cracked as she tried to get his attention. Not like he wasn’t already staring at her as if she was a lunatic. Her nervousness got to her, but embarrassment was too hard to forget. 

“I’m sorry that you had to see me like that,” Marie Rose said, “It must be really weird for you to see me cry.”

She had expected him to say something corny or awkward to cheer her up, instead he shook his head and said, “Crying is okay, it clears your eyes.”

For the first time since she had entered this forest and encountered Eliot, she genuinely smiled. There was no faking it, those words hit her hard and lifted her spirit. She was so happy that she had found him (or he had found her) and she was even happier than he stayed with her. She wanted to bask in that feeling. It was like discovering a flower in an endless field of grass. 

She must’ve stayed quiet for too long since Eliot cleared his throat and tried again to make conversation, “I’m sorry if I did anything to disturb you. That wasn’t my intention.”

Did Eliot perhaps think...that it was his fault that she was crying?!

“No, no! It’s not your fault. I was just thinking of something else and then I started crying, haha. Don’t worry about it,” she said quickly while moving one hand to diminish his beliefs.

“If you’d like I could leave,” he continued. His face was filled with concern.

In any given situation , she would’ve said yes. However, now, more than anything, she wanted someone to talk to. Correction, she wanted to talk to Eliot.

“Now, I know this isn’t really the right time to be asking, but are you okay with tell me what happened? Is someone hurting you?” Eliot’s voice rang in her ears.

“Oh...umm,” she stuttered.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

“Oh, thanks,” was all she could say in response. This conversation was obviously going nowhere, but she wanted to ask him something before he let. 

Clenching her fists, she uttered out, “Eliot, umm, how do you-,” she paused, she didn’t know how he would feel if she asked, but she decided to endure it and continue, “How do you deal with criticism to the point where you’re not sure if the teacher wants you anymore?”

That question sounded so strange when the words left her lips, but she really wanted to know. Even if the question was weird, his face showed no sign and he quickly got into a serious thinking face. 

He sat back, using his hands to hold him up while looking up at the sky. He was considering the question. After some time, he spoke. 

“…is this about Brad and I?”

“Well, no, actually yes, erhm, kind of?” she responded, tripping over her words, “I just want to know how to deal with...harsh criticism.”

His answer came quickly, “I just think that teachers are hard on their students because they want them to do well and not make another mistake that could hurt them. They criticize you so you can improve and reach your full potential. That’s what I think at least. You shouldn’t worry too much about it.”

Even without directly telling him, he had somehow gotten the hint that she was asking for herself and she was grateful that she didn’t have to say it aloud. Though it may not show on her face, the words made her see reason.

The sun was coming down and the sky got darker, Marie Rose had just realized how much she wasted Eliot’s time.

“Oh no Eliot, I’ve spent the entire afternoon with you. Weren’t you going to train? Oh my gosh, I feel so bad,” she said while covering her face with her hands.

“No, it’s alright. I’m happy that I got to talk with you.”

As if she could believe that. Yet, there was a small part of her brain where she’d like to think he really meant it. She felt the same way too, every passing moment with him made her heart throb...she was probably just mawkish with happiness. With all this happening, she felt better about what happened with Miss Helena. She wanted to go up to her and apologize without tears in her eyes.

Eliot stood up and Marie Rose followed suit. She wobbled a bit since her legs had been stasis for so long.

“Brad’s probably going to get cranky at me that I haven’t made dinner yet,” Eliot said while doing scratching the back of his head and smiling to himself, “I should probably go.”

“Y-yeah, I should probably head back to the villa.” Marie Rose wanted to keep talking to him, but she knew that it was impossible. After all, they both had their own duties at the moment.

“But we should hang out again and have some fun one day!”

Her face broke out into a grin.

“Yeah! Totally!” sounding a bit overly excited.

As he turned and waved goodbye to her, Marie Rose took one last look and beamed. She started her walk back to Miss Helena so she could properly address her and learn from her mistakes. All the while, she thought of Eliot and his pure smile that lifted her spirits which, in turn, brought a smile to her face.

She couldn’t wait to see him again.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! second fic and i will make sure to post more often when i get breaks off from school.


End file.
